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Pumped Up Guns

If one trigger could change your life would you pull it? Many have experienced a shooter

attacking students on school grounds in which results in killing and injuring many of the

innocent. Mark Foster, lead singer of the band Foster the People, wrote a song of being in the

killer’s mind instead of the victims’. Throughout Mark Foster’s lyrics he brings full attention to

the cause and effect of a gun being placed into a hand of a vengeance. Although he does not

advocate this behavior, through a lyrical standpoint he discovers an alternate explanation of why

this has been a repeated story throughout our American history. According to “Anti-gun Control

Spending Stays in the Shadows” by Nicholas Wells and Mark Fahey, politicians and political

figures have been paid off to turn a blind eye to the lack of gun control in the United States. Even

with the amount of lives lost through school shootings the government and politicians will not

open up their hearts but will preferably open up their bank accounts. Instead of bringing in

money for there own needs, the government should be bring attention to the lack of laws and

restrictions associated with firearms.

Being a repeated story in history, Mark Foster coincidently wrote a song by the name of

“Pumped Up Kicks”. This single debuted on May 7 hitting the top 100 charts of 2011. Mark

Foster explains to Spinner UK the meaning of the song lyrics by stating, “Pumped Up Kicks' is

about a kid that basically is losing his mind and is plotting revenge. He's an outcast”. Mark

Foster creates a character in the song, Robert, who feels victimized and isolated from his peers.

In the lyrics, Robert eventually takes his anger out on “all the other kids with the pumped up

kicks”(line 11), which is a reference to the popular crowd at his school. His only advice for his

classmates is that “all the other kids with the pumped up kicks, you better run, better run, outrun
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my gun”(line 11-12). He plans out his vengeance skillfully by choosing the proper weapon and

location of the attack. Robert’s trigger of isolation at school and also psychological mental issues

seemed to have driven him over the edge. Finding a six-shooter gun in his dad’s closet Mark

Foster sings, “ …and he’s coming for you, yeah he’s coming for you”(line 10), which initiates

his intensions with the weapon. No turning back, Robert follows through with his plan and now

“all the other kids with the pumped up kicks better run, better run, faster than my bullet” (line

14).

The lack of attention brought to firearms has caused innocent students lives to become at

risk. One of the latest schools shooting took place in Roseburg, Oregon at Umpqua Community

College. It was a normal day in Roseburg; students studying and trying to receive an education,

all unaware of what the outcome would be on October 1st, 2015. By the end of the day nine

students were killed and seven severely injured. The suspected shooter seemed to have realized

the damage he had done and to punish himself he took his own life. Many will never know what

caused the gunman to have such a desire to shoot and harm his classmates. Most shooters

strangely enough target schools as a place to take a vengeance from other students or teachers

that have tormented, betrayed or belittled the gunman in some way or form. This causes the

shooter to have resentment and anger built up inside therefore he/she lashes out for attention by

using a gun as a symbol of power. The shooting does not only affect them but also the ones they

target. I feel the gunman does not take into consideration or responsibility of the cause and effect

of their actions.

Recognizing the pattern of mass shooting’s, there was a televised press conference that

Barack Obama spoke at discussing these continues attacks. He asked the American people,

“How can they get our government to change these laws, and to save these lives and let these
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people grow up”. As our President he has little control to pass an act from protecting schools that

encounter armed students on campus. Only congress has the authority to vote whether an act of

protection is needed for our nation unless vetoed. Sadly to say, the Safe Communities and Safe

Schools Act of 2013 did not pass due to lack of votes from the Congress. It seems that the

amount of money speaks louder than the lives taken from school shootings. The National Riffle

Association alone spent $28 million in the 2014 political races. Big gun manufactures such as

Smith and Wesson or Strurm and Ruger will pay at any expense to continue their cash flow. The

amount of profit they make is viewed as a bigger priority as to the lives that have been killed by

their weapons.

Now a day, you are able to purchase a gun and the customer is not entitled to or

authorized to give any prior knowledge of his/her intentions. Therefore, someone with a severe

mental health issue or even one who is psychologically impaired can retrieve a powerful weapon

and use it to his or her full advantage. For example, in the song “Pumped Up Kicks” by Mark

Foster, he writes how Robert was easily able to obtain a weapon as referenced in the lyric “Yeah

he found a six-shooter gun in his dad’s closet, in the box of fun things…” (lines 7-8). This lyric

explains how the lack of gun control allows anyone to gain full access to a deadly weapon such

as a gun. Giving the common stranger the privilege to purchase a weapon creates a series of

deaths to fall in America. According to “Shooting Tracker”, there have been 295 mass shootings,

375 deaths, and over a thousand injured with in the year of 2015. There has been a false allusion

to the amount of protection a gun brings to our society. Unfortunately, we are continually killing

one other due to freedom of armed weapons and any psychological illness that comes with intent.

Evidently, even when knowing the severity of placing a firearm in the wrong hands the

government refuses to take action on gun control. Pointing out this issue in the “Anti-gun
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Control Spending Stays in the Shadows”, an article written by Nicholas Wells and Mark Fahey

states, “Gun control advocates say there's a simple reason for congressional inaction on gun

control: massive amounts of money spent by pro-gun groups on lobbying and campaigns

supporting members of Congress”. The amount of money the National Rifle Association and

National Association for Gun Rights pay should not out weight the amount of lives lost

throughout the centuries. Giving no boundaries to whom can purchase a gun is simply unjust. It

becomes frightening to the American people, especially students, that our society contains the

liberty to obtain possession of a firearm. This government defines how the American people live,

and instead of putting an end to the lack of gun control in our nation the government would

rather thrive on the dollar bill handed to their pockets instead of the citizen’s safety from

firearms.

From the amount of school shootings to the lack of control in this country, the American

people still come to the same question as to why? Mark Foster debuted a song that proposes the

gunman’s trigger behind the school shooting. He explains why he wanted to capture the

opposing point of view to Spinner UK, “Instead of writing about victims and some tragedy, I

wanted to get into the killer's mind, like Truman Capote did in In Cold Blood. I really like to get

inside the heads of other people and try to walk in their shoes”. In his song Foster brings forth

possible triggers that could lead up to a school shooting. This includes depression, bullying, lack

of attention, or some psychological reasoning to kill others that have damaged the shooter

emotionally. Nicholas Wells and Mark Fahey also connect the dots behind this rising epidemic

by pointing out the facts in their article “Anti-gun Control Spending Stays in the Shadows”. They

explain as to why a gunman has the freedom to do as he pleases with his/her weapon. Both Wells

and Fahey report the lack of action and attention the government has on armed shooters. The
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National Rifle Association and National Association for Gun Rights created their own personal

loophole to avoid their loss and the public’s safety by offering money as their component.

This epidemic issue has been amongst us for centuries, yet no one has come to a

conclusion to resolve it. The Congresses true intentions on this issue are not aligned with the

importance of the public’s safety but with the importance of the dollar amount portrayed in front

of them. The amount of guns freely handed to individuals is harmful to our growing students,

especially with the large gross of school shootings. Mark Foster, lead singer of the band Foster

the People, captured the true essence of an individual being in a difficult state of mind in his hit

single “Pumped Up Kicks”. Throughout the lyrics Foster really set’s the tone of the gunman’s

true intentions behind the attack. Reflecting on the growing issue, Nicholas Wells and Mark

Fahey write about the political reasoning and the injustice that has been overplayed. They

continue to report this corruption in their article, “Anti-gun Control Spending Stays in the

Shadows” exploiting politicians to their truths. The two contexts reveal the deeper meaning

behind the cause and effect of gun control. The number of school shootings and deaths will

continue to rise if the government continues to not instate laws and restrictions on guns. Our

students should not have to run from a bullet and fear of a shooter being on school grounds. Our

growing generations deserve the opportunities given to pursue an education for themselves.
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Work Cited

"Timeline of Worldwide School and Mass Shootings." www.infoplease.com. Infoplease, 2000.

Web. 14 Nov. 2015.

"Mass Shooting Tracker." Mass Shootings in 2015 -. CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post, The

Economist, 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.

"Pumped Up KICKS by FOSTER THE PEOPLE." www.azlyrics.com. AZlyrics, 2011. Web. 14

Nov. 2015.

"PUMPED UP KICKS by FOSTER THE PEOPLE." www.songfacts.com. Songfacts, 2011.

Web. 13 Nov. 2015.

Wells, Nicholas, and Mark Fahey. "Anti-gun Control Spending Stays in the Shadows."

Www.cnbc.com. CNBC, 3 Oct. 2015. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.